Explosive



Patented Oct. 27, 1931 tszavss UNITED STATES PATENTE OFFICE RUBEN I. STOOPS, F KENVIL, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOB TO mounts POWDER 00K- ]?ALNY, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A

GOREDRATION OF DELAWABE EXPLOSIVE No Drawing.

My invention elates to an improvement in explosives and more particularly to those types of explosives known as dynamite and gelatines.

- Heretofore in the manufacture of dynamites and gelatines, sulphur has been used as one of the ingredients. In the case of ordinary dynamites sulphur has been used because of its cheapness and the fact that it was easy to pulverize and on combustion was practically converted into gases leaving little or no residue. atine the use of sulphur has been of especial advantage in that its use enabled the pro-' duction of a gelatine composition which was soft, dough-like and flexible and which would readily flow and squeeze through the cartridging machines without undue friction and heating. Sulphur was furthermore of value as an ingredient of dynamites and gelatines in that it is non porous and non absorbent and therefore took up less of the nitroglycerine, or other liquid high explosive present, and hence prevented, or at least did not contribute to, loss of sensitivity of dynamites and the drying of gelatines from a lack of unabsorbed nitl'oglycerine, or the like.

Various attempts have been made to provide a suitable combustible material for use as a substitute for sulphur, but such attempts have resulted in the selection or production of materials having a greater absorbency than sulphur 'and which, while in certain cases they maybe substituted for sulphur in dynamites, have proved useless as substitutes for sulphur in gelatines since the absorb the nitroglycerine present in the ge atine, and especially in low strength gelatines, to an extent which renders the gelatine too dry for practical purposes, as passing through a cartridging machine.

According to my investigations, I have discovered that the presence of sulphur in dynamites and gelatines, while itserves certain purposes, as indicated, is distinctly disadvantageous in that, contrary to general belief, it reduces the total power exerted by a dynamite or gelatine of given strength, and it can be demonstrategi for example by the well known mortar' or by the Bu- In the case of gel- Application filed December 8, 1927. Serial No. 288,718.

reau of Mines ballistic pendulum test, that a given gelatine or dynamite containing sulphur will not afford the same amount of execution as will a similar dynamite or gelatine without sulphur.

Now in accordance with my invention I have discovered that the combustible ingredient, sulphur, in dynamites and gelatines, and especially in low strength gelatines, may be replaced with a combustible ingredient comprising a combustible absorptive material, preferably an absorptive carbonaceous material, as wood, which has been impregnated with wax, preferably parafiin wax and which may be of ordinary commercial grade, or with a fat, such as tallow or stearine, or the like, a fatty acid, such as oleic acid, stearic acid or the like, or a gum such as damar which, for the purposes of my invention f intend shall be deemed as equivalents of wax.

In the preparation of the combustible ingredient as a substitute for sulphur in accordance with my invention, for example, about seventy parts of finely divided wood, as wood sawdust, are impregnated with about thirty parts of wax of any desired grade. The combustible ingredient may be prepared by placing, say, thirty parts of paraffin, or wax, in a jacketed kettle provided with' stirring arms and blades. The wax is melted byintroducing hot water or steam into the jacket of the kettle and when melted,

say, about seventy parts of sawdust are added and stirred into the wax. When the sawdust has absorbed or become impregnated with the wax the hotwater or steam is shut off from the jacket of the kettle and cold water introduced therein to cool the contents of the kettle, the stirring of the mass being continued meanwhile. When cold the wax impregnated sawdust will be found to be a granular product, containing no lumps, and which does not require screening before use.

The wax impregnated material, for example sawdust, may be used as an ingredient of dynamites and gelatines in substitution for sulphur, within a wide range of proportion, and will be found to perform all the functions heretofore performed by sulphur, especially in low strength dynamites and gelamaterial in substitution for sulphur, ing to my invention, and in comparison with tines, without at the same time acting to reduce the total power, or execution capaclty of the dynamite or gelatine.

As an example of gelatines involving as an ingredient wax impregnated combustibe accor typical gelatmes including sulphur as an in P gradient, the following will be'illustrative:

Table A Nltroglycerine, or the like; 23. 5 23 5 23.4 23. 5 Nitrocompoun 1:5 1 5 1. 5 1. 5 Nitrocotton 0. 3 0. 3 0. 3 0. 3 Nitrate or ammonia 11. 0 11. 0 Sodium nitra 52. 2 59. 0 62. 4 49. 5 Ivorym 3.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 Starch 4. 1 2. 5 4. 0 2. 5 Wood p p Wax impregnated sawdust 3. 0 4. 8 Sulphur 9. 7 8. 2 Chalk --..r 1.0 1 0 1.0 1.0 Strength 32. 7% 1L 6% 23. 8% 25. 0%

In the above table it will be noted that the gelatines represented by compositions Numers 2- and 4 contain sulphur, while those gelatines represented by compositions Numbers 1 and 3, and in accordance with m invention, contain wax impregnated saw no sulphur.

As illustrative of the comparison between, for example, a gelatine embodying my invention and one containing sulphur, it will be observed that the gelatine of the composition No. 1, which embodies m invention and which is what is commonly own to those skilled in the art as a 40% gelatine, has an actual strength, for example by the mortar test, of 32.7%, or actual stren h closely aproximating its strength 32.5 0, as calculated y the following, generally accepted strength figures of the explosive ingredients: Nitroglycerine "23.5 X 1 23.5 Nitrocompounds 1.5 Nitrocotton 0.3' Ammonium nitrate 11.0

On the other hand, the 40% gelatine heretofore known, as illustrated by composition No. 4, including sulphur as an ingredient and having the same explosive ingredients as has composition No. 1 and hence having the same calculated strength, has by actual test a strength of only 25%.

As a further comparison the composition No. 2 is a so-called 25% gelatine and has a stren h by actual test of only 11.6% as compare to a strength of 24.7% .calculated in the basis of the accepted strength figures of the explosive ingredients, while the gelatine o composition No. 3, likewise a 25% gelatine, but without sulphur and with the addition ustand of wax impregnated sawdust, has a strength by test of 23.8% which closely approximates its calculated strength of 24.7%. It will be noted that when wax impregnated sawdust is substituted for sulphur in the case of a 25% gelatine that the actual strength of the gelatine is so greatly increased that it is aproximately of the same strength as the socalled 50% gelatine the substitution of wax impregnated sawdust for sulphur the desirable consistency, flexicontaining sulphur. In

bility and cartridging ability of the gelatine ecte While in more specially describing my invention I have made special reference to gelatines, it will be clearly understood that my invention is applicable to dynamites generally in which inclusion of combustible material, as wax impregnated sawdust in accordance with my invention, whether or not in substitution for sulphur, is of very distinct advantage where it is desired to maintain a film of nitroglycerine, like, upon the surface of the other ingredients and so propagate the explosion through a mass of the dynamite, as in a cartridge; and such is especially so in the case of low strength is not in any way afi dynamite having low nitroglycerine content, I

wherein sulphur has been heretofore used on account of its non absorbency, since the elimination of the sulphur results in an increase in the actual strength of such dynamites as in the case of gelatines.

It will be understood that my invention contemplates the use of any suitable combustible material, other than wood, which has wax impregnated therein. For example, I may use any suitable kind of wood as pine, or the lighter woods as balsa and Bongo wood or, in place thereof, I may use bagasse or the waste of sugar mills, corn stalks and the like, or such other combustible materials as may now or hereafter be adaptable for use as ingradients in explosives.

In connection with the above description of the explosive in accordance with my invention, it will be understood that in referring to wax I contemplate, as a part of my invention, the use, in substitution for wax, of a fat, a fatty acid or a gum which respective-- ly I intend for the purpose of my invention shall be deemed equivalents of wax and where in the claims appended hereto wax is specified I intend to include, as equivalents, a fat, a fatty acid or a gum.

Having now fully described'my invention what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An explosive including as ingredients 2.

liquid explosive substance admixed with car.- 1 '1,

f therein.

or the 2. An explosive including as ingredients a liquid explosive substance admixed with fineasagna 11y; divided wood having wax impregnated 251 lding 'gredits 3. ex osive me u as in en a gelatinous Explosive substance admixed with l a combustible material wax impregnated therein.

4. An explosive including as ingredients an explosive salt a liquid high explosive admixed with carbonaceous material having wax impregnated therein.

5. An explosive including as ingredients nitrated cellulose, a liquid high explosive admixed with a carbonaceous material having wax impregnated therein.

15 6. An explosive including as ingredients an explosive salt, nitrated cellulose, a liquid high ex losive admixed with carbonaceous materiafhaving wax impregnated therein.

7. An explosive inclu as ingredients an explosive salt, nitrocellulose, nitro lycerine admixed with finely divided wood aving wax impregnated therein.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, at Kcnvil, New Jersq, on this 5th day of December 1927.

- BUREN I. s'iooPs. 

